Tom Odell’s debut album Long Way Down was none too popular with the NME (Picture: Andrew Whitton)

It’s good to know that you can rely on your parents for support in times of trouble – but the dad of up-and-coming singer Tom Odell has taken it to extremes.

According to reports Mr Odell Sr was so enraged by a review of the singer’s debut album Long Way Down in music magazine NME – in which it was given a rare zero out of 10 – that he rang the office to complain.

News of his staunch defence of his son came to light after the publication’s deputy editor Lucy Jones took to Twitter to reveal what had happened.

‘Tom Odell’s dad just called the NME office to complain about his son’s album review,’ she said – sparking a mixed response from her followers.

One tweeted: ‘Goodness me, keep out parent!’ but another was kinder, saying: ‘Tom Odell’s dad is my hero.’

The 22-year-old singer won the Critic’s Choice award at the Brits earlier this year (Picture: PA)

Others, however, accused the publication of giving the rare zero rating as a publicity stunt.

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Music critic Simon Price suggested the review had been ‘shameless showboating,’ adding that the same issue of the magazine featured a positive review of the new Beady Eye album – which has been largely criticised elsewhere.

The offending review, by writer Mark Beaumont, called the Another Love singer and Brit awards winner a ‘poor, misguided wannabe who’s fallen into the hands of the music industry equivalent of Hungarian sex traffickers’.

He added: ‘He’ll be all over 2013 like a virulent dose of musical syphilis, pounding and warbling away at every Papal election and Bradley Wiggins finishing line.’

Beaumont later defended his review, saying on Twitter that the record ‘cynically combines everything dull and despicable about mainstream music.’

Record buyers will have the opportunity to make their own minds up when Long Way Down is released on Monday.